|
Post by Zarnium on May 7, 2017 19:40:08 GMT -8
What I like about One is that he's a dig at the "nice-guy" archetype. He's superficially the most conventionally moral and least overtly selfish of the lot, but that comes with an attitude of superiority and entitlement that isn't exactly high-minded. The most obvious contrast is Three, but there's also a contrast with Six who is also somewhat more moral than the others, but lacks the smug obstinance and is better able to navigate through the group's ethical issues without causing a row.
Yeah, kinda. One's backstory is a bit uninspired, and I'm sure something more interesting that also has less cultural baggage behind it could've been done with him. Three is in a similar situation, but I do at least like the character development for him that came of it, and his overall backstory is ultimately much more detailed than just his ladyfriend dying.
There is a lot of killing done by the protagonists of Dark Matter even while they're ostensibly trying to be "good," but the show does a slightly better job at confronting this than some others do. A good example is when Two kills those casino guards over a trifling card-counting dispute and it freaks Five out, causing her to retract from Two for awhile. Some of the group also become a bit less murder-happy as the show goes on while others don't, which causes some interesting conflict.
Did you mean to say Four the second time, or did you mean someone else?
There are obvious parallels, but one big difference between the Android and Data is that Data is a (nearly) singular technological marvel that was constructed with the intention of being a sapient person and is already widely recognized as such, while the Android is a mass produced, obsolete piece of service equipment that wasn't intended to be anything more than the Dark Matter equivalent of an iPhone.
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on May 7, 2017 19:52:42 GMT -8
Oh, I mean "including Four," as in he is not exempt from being fun to watch. He's pretty fun though, in part because he's the most stylish fighter (which I suspect is part of why Mallari was cast) What I like about One is that he's a dig at the "nice-guy" archetype. He's superficially the most conventionally moral and least overtly selfish of the lot, but that comes with an attitude of superiority and entitlement that isn't exactly high-minded. The most obvious contrast is Three, but there's also a contrast with Five who is also somewhat more moral than the others, but lacks the smug obstinance and is better able to navigate through the group's ethical issues without causing a row. Okay, so the scene in Episode 11 where One's hypoxial rant about the strength of the men of the Raza is intercut with Two kicking three dudes' asses was pretty funny. Also also, it occurs to me now that the Raza is a pun. Tabula raza, ha ha.
|
|
|
Post by Zarnium on May 8, 2017 3:14:07 GMT -8
Ok, so, in my previous post, I meant to say Six was a contrast to One, not Five. Doh!
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on May 11, 2017 20:00:07 GMT -8
Well, that was a finale alright. I guessed the twist sometime around episode... five... But it was still a neat bottle episode.
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on May 25, 2017 18:43:41 GMT -8
So that season two premiere was interesting. Weird cliffhanger, if you can call it that.
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on Jun 8, 2017 17:42:14 GMT -8
So, I'm binging the last couple episodes of Season 2 right now, and ((BIG SPOILERS))
I am HIGHLY confused by this show's proclivity for randomly killing off its crew and sort of zooming past it. One's death is seemingly part of a massive corporate conspiracy, but it's casually dropped after Two kills Corso. Devon gets shot and then the show suddenly veers into parallel universe shenanigans?
Which is, I suppose, the worst part of the show-- the cliffhangers which are rarely if ever followed up upon, and never exciting. I'm also not a big fan of the inexplicable coexistence of feudal Japan, Star Trek, and space western aesthetics, which are not meshed together in any coherent way... although I suppose I don't care too much, given that the show's ostensible focus is on character and ethical dilemmas. And yet, the show seems to be speeding (or blinking, now) past that, even though they only have like three interior sets and should be focusing on these ethical dilemmas instead of action.
I'll keep watching because I like the cast (Nyx is indeed cool), and because the show does have some neat ideas. I just wish it would be less afraid of being cerebral.
|
|
|
Post by Zarnium on Jun 8, 2017 21:14:36 GMT -8
The second season gets to be a bit scatterbrained, tossing out too many new developments and seemingly dropping them before they've been seen all the way through, as though the writers got bored and wanted to move onto other things. Devon is the most glaring example; his presence seems like it's going to be significant going forward, but he never really has an affect on any other character or plotline before being killed off and barely ever mentioned again. Going back to season 1, you'll also recall that the guy in the hospital bed talking to Rook through a voice synthesizer has yet to be mentioned or make an appearance again. It's not too late for the show make good on the plot elements that haven't been ditched already, provided the third season pulls itself together.
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on Jun 28, 2017 12:44:43 GMT -8
So, the first third of season three.
Let's talk about the cast shakeups? Ok. Writing Six off three episodes into the season was an odd move, but it was a really compelling ending to his arc. And Five is much better at being the moral center of the ship anyway, imo. Ryo Ichida, less so. He's so... boring now. Granted, Alex Mallari Jr. was always the weak link of the cast but without the humor or the martial arts centerpiece he's a one-dimensional villain who grunts through his big dramatic scene in 3x02.
Weirdly, I think the Groundhog Day riff is the best episode of the first four and not the continuity-laden stuff; it felt stylish and had some good old claustrophobia. And it was a clever way to get some info on the two new characters. Great stuff.
|
|
|
Post by Zarnium on Jun 28, 2017 13:59:04 GMT -8
FYI, I do not have anywhere to watch new episodes, so I will be avoiding spoilers for season three and likely won't get caught up for several months at least. Nevertheless, feel free to write whatever you want, and I will read it when the time comes.
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on Aug 5, 2017 19:50:20 GMT -8
So, nine episodes into the show and my observation is holding: the show's original plotlines are relatively boring compared to the ones where they do stock sci-fi plots with finesse. Like, I couldn't care less about the palace intrigue in Zairon, but seeing the show riff on Groundhog Day or Inception is thrilling. It's like, the surface grit and intelligence of a Battlestar Galactica, but with fun Star Trek plots instead of the boring "adult" political thriller plotting.
|
|
Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
|
Post by Quiara on Sept 17, 2017 19:42:00 GMT -8
Aaaaaaaaaand this show has been tragically canceled mid-cliffhanger apparently. RIP.
Then again, that I'm still four episodes behind and received this news a month late should indicate the magnitude of the loss here?
|
|
|
Post by Zarnium on Sept 18, 2017 8:23:43 GMT -8
Well, that sucks. Though it's always possible that a streaming service could pick it up, that's certainly not unheard of these days.
|
|